Harry Potter  The Next Generation
by AnimeOtaku4444
Summary: This is a romance revolving around the children of the people Harry went to school with, as well as his own kids. The main characters are his youngest daughter, Aurora, and one of the young Malfoy twins, both OCs. Rating is for later chapters.
1. Leaving Home

Leaving Home

Pardus was both nervous and excited about attending Hogwarts for the first time. He was excited because it would be the first time in his life that he spent a night away from home, and that he attended a real school, with classmates and everything. He'd been homeschooled, just like his brothers, up until now. Also, this new school was bound to have any number of hiding places he could use to escape his sadistic brothers, his twin Aries and their older brother Scorpius.

He was more nervous than he was excited though. Even though Harry Potter himself had spoken for the Malfoys after the war, and vouched for them, the only thing which had kept them out of Azkaban, his family had never been forgiven in the eyes of the public. Even his brothers and he had grown up being subjected to hateful glares and scathing glances, despite the fact that they hadn't even been born until long after the war ended.

Pardus still wasn't sure whether or not that was the reason his brothers had turned out the way they did. Scorpius was Bellatrix Lestrange incarnate, and Aries could've been a young clone of Lucius, mentally as well as physically. The twins both looked identical to how their grandfather looked at their age. Still, Pardus was optimistic.

The people at Hogwarts were almost all just children, like him. They might have grown up knowing that they didn't have an aunt because a Death Eater killed her, or that their grandfather was tortured by Death Eaters, but they never would've known those relatives, or felt the pain of losing them first-hand. If Pardus was lucky, perhaps not all of the other children would see him the way their parents did. Perhaps the Muggleborns wouldn't judge him, having been only slightly affected by the war.

He only needed one, or maybe two children to give him a chance. He would be happy with even that few friends. He'd been lonely his whole life, with only his cruel brothers to keep him company, and his parents always away. His father was usually abroad on business, and his mother spent most of her time shopping in foreign cities.

His life had been painful and lonely, but when things had gotten really bad, he'd always told himself that it was okay, that someday things would get better, and then all those tortuous years of having nobody for company except his sadistic brothers would all have been worth it. He hoped that the day of him taking that train to Hogwarts, would be that day.

September came, and Pardus found himself at King's Cross Railway Station. He'd never been on Platform 9 ¾ before. Although he'd come to understand that most of the time, when one or more children were old enough to leave on the train, the entire family came to see them off, including the younger children, but that hadn't been the case with Scorpius. When he'd been old enough to attend Hogwarts, he'd been sent to the station alone.

That's why everything was so new to him. He was nervous, going through the wall that was the entrance to the station, and shocked at seeing so many other wizards and witches on the other side. He's never seen such a large crowd before. Even when someone took him shopping in Diagon Alley, peak traffic hours were avoided like the plague, so there wouldn't be so many people glaring at them hostilely.

Then, a small gap opened up in the crowd, and he saw the train for the first time. It was the most awesome sight Pardus had ever laid eyes on. He couldn't look away from it. It poured steam onto the platform, enveloping the people, and making it seem as though they were all lost spirits wandering the netherworld. The effect was better than magic. The 'last call' whistle sounded, breaking Pardus from his mild trance, and he hurried over to the train.

Scorpius had left them the moment they were on the station, hurrying ahead to board the train, so it was only Aries and Pardus that approached the train with their mother, who'd come home to take them to the station. Aries simple said 'Goodbye mother.' without even glancing at her, and quickly got onboard.

When he was out of sight, the beautiful woman got on her knees in front of her son, dusted of his robes, straightened his collar, and neatened his hair, before sending Pardus off with a slight nod, and a small smile. She wasn't a particularly affectionate or passionate woman, but Pardus had always been her favourite. Pardus smiled back at her, before rushing to get on the train before it left without him. It had already slowly begun to move by the time Pardus reached the stairs.


	2. Meeting The Blue Haired Girl

On The Train: Meeting The Blue-Haired Girl

As soon as Pardus boarded, Aries grabbed him by his hair and dragged him into a compartment. "Listen up. I'm sick of looking like your clone, and I don't want anybody mistaking me for the likes of you, or thinking that something as pathetic as you is actually me when we get to school, so today we stop looking like carbon copies." He held up the fistful of hair he still hadn't let go of, using it to painfully turn Pardus around.

He didn't see Aries take out his wand, or drag the tip of it across his shoulder-length hair. All he knew was that, suddenly, Aries wasn't holding onto him anymore. He turned his head to look at his brother, and saw silky pale yellow threads in his hands, and realised what he must've done. He wanted to cry, but knew he couldn't. It would just please his brother if he did, and make Aries think that he was weak, so Pardus just left the compartment.

He brought up the hood of his travelling cloak to hide his shame, and then began his search for an empty compartment, trying to think of what to do when he had to take his cloak off. Every compartment towards the front was full to bursting, and the ones near the middle weren't much better. He kept walking until he'd reached the last compartment in the last car. It was the emptiest one he'd found so far, but he could still see one person sitting inside, through the glass window in the door.

She looked to be about his age, and seemed to be reading a book. She had hair just a little longer than his had been that morning, but it was a colour he'd never seen on a person before. It was black, but where the light shone on it, it was dark blue. It was glossy and very wavy, almost curly. Pardus decided to try his luck. Gathering his courage, he knocked on the compartment's door.

The girl's head shot up. She'd been so absorbed in her spell-book that the sudden noise had badly startled her, and being startled made her flustered and cross. She called out to whoever had interrupted her in a rather sharp tone. "Come in." Pardus gulped and opened the door. The blue-haired girl looked him up and down, then asked "What do you want?" He hesitated for a moment, but answered her quietly.

"All of the other compartments are full. Would it be alright if I joined you?" She sighed, but nodded. Pardus could only assume that due to his cloak's hood hiding most of his face and all of his hair, the girl hadn't realised yet that he was a Malfoy. He severely doubted that she would've agreed to let him stay if she'd recognised him. He noticed that the girl was eyeing him with what looked like curiosity.

"Why are you wearing your hood up? You look like one of those seedy characters from the Hog's Head Inn. My father took me there once, and that's the only place where I've ever seen anyone wearing their hoods up." Pardus flinched. If he took his hood down, she'd recognise him and kick him out, as well as seeing his humiliating new haircut, but he couldn't think of a sensible explanation. "I'm just shy. I don't like people looking at me."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't being dressed strangely like that just draw people's attention all the more?" Pardus looked away. Damn, the girl had a point. He decided he'd deceived her long enough. He would just have to grow a pair and be honest with her, and deal with the consequences. He slowly lowered his hood. The girl's eyes widened briefly in surprise, before she slowly began to frown.

"What on Earth happened to your hair? You look like you were attacked by Edward Scissorhands. You can't tell me a hairdresser did that. Did you try to cut it yourself?" Pardus looked away from her, his face red with shame, but that just showed off the mangled hair at the back even more. He didn't answer her. The girl chewed her lip, and mentally berated herself for being too frank yet again. That was the one thing about her she was always being rebuked for.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Please tell me what happened, maybe I can help." Pardus stared at the floor in front of him. "My twin brother decided that he didn't want to look like me anymore." He didn't see the light-bulb go off in her eyes as she realised who he must be. She knew for a fact that there was only one pair of twins in her year, the Malfoy boys. She wondered how she could've missed it before, his alabaster skin and palest yellow hair, as well as his light grey eyes; they were all dead give-aways as to his parentage. She thought about what she knew of this boy, and then made up her mind.


	3. The New Hairstyle

She thought about what she knew of this boy, and then made up her mind. "I could fix it for you, if you'd like. I know just the spell. Are you willing to trust me?" He looked unsure, but he was desperate. Something had to be done about his hair before the train reached Hogsmeade Station, and he had no ideas himself. He nodded at her. "I'd appreciate that very much." The girl smiled, stood, and pulled her wand out.

"Stand up and turn around so that your back is facing me." Pardus obeyed. He was a little nervous, as the girl must've recognised him by now, and strangers had tried to hex him and the other members of his family as well, but he really was desperate to have normal hair again, and decided that he would just have to risk it. Besides, by this point he knew how to rectify the damage from almost every first- and second-year level hex and curse in existence. He'd had to learn them as a survival mechanism, thanks to the fact that he had Aries for a brother.

He didn't hear the girl speak any incantations, or feel anything happening, but he waited patiently for further instructions. The girl thought for a few seconds before silently casting a spell which caused Pardus' hair to rapidly grow. She waited until it reached his knees, then ended it. Next, she silently used the same severing charm which Aries had to carefully and neatly cut the boy's hair so that it came to his tailbone. It was much longer than her hair, which only reached her shoulder-bones, but it suited him.

She gently turned him around, and began to giggle when she realised that he looked like Cousin It. His face was completely hidden by a curtain of hair. With the greatest of care, she performed one last severing charm. "Done!" She used a simple cleaning spell to vanish the severed hair which had fallen to the floor, and conjured a mirror, which she passed to the boy, all without uttering a single incantation.

Pardus was very impressed. They weren't supposed to be capable of casting spells without saying the incantations aloud until their fifth year at Hogwarts, and this girl hadn't yet attended a single lesson at their new school. Pardus gasped when he saw his reflection. He'd never had a fringe before. He thought that a fringe, combined with his long hair, would make his delicate features look too girly and silly, but it had the opposite effect.

It had made him look more regal and noble, as though he should've been wearing a prince's crown. It magnified the determination in his chin, and the courage in his eyes. It made him look strong and dignified, honourable and chivalrous. That day he decided that he wanted to have a fringe every day for the rest of his life. He tore his eyes from the mirror in his hand to look at the grinning girl. "I thought a fringe would look good on you, but even I didn't realise just how good it would look. It really suits you."

Pardus smiled gently at her and nodded. "Thank you for helping me. You're a nice person." Aurora just shrugged. "I couldn't let you walk off the train looking like a hobo. It would've been painful when everyone started laughing at you, and nobody deserves that." Pardus looked at her thoughtfully. "You do realise that I'm a Malfoy, don't you?" Aurora nodded. "It took me a few seconds because I've never seen you at the station before, but yes. I don't know which one, but I know that you're one of the Malfoy twins."

Pardus nodded. "I'm Pardus. Aries is my brother. If you know that I'm a Malfoy, why are you being so friendly to me? Don't you hate me, like everyone else?" The girl's face took on a serious expression. "Why should I hate you just because of your surname, or because your older family members did bad things? You haven't done anything bad or illegal yourself, have you? You didn't fight in the war, did you?"

Pardus shook his head. "Then I have no reason to hate you. I've always believed in giving people a chance to show you who they are, without pre-judging them. You didn't hex me, or be rude to me, or try to bully me, so I've decided that you're alright." She finished with a big grin. Pardus smiled shyly. "I wish the rest of England thought the way you do. All the adults look at me with the same eyes they look at Father with, eyes that blame me and condemn me.

I never understood why, I mean, I wasn't even born until long after the war. When I got older I started to think, maybe it's because of my brothers. Scorpius acts like a Death Eater, and Aries is a bully. Aries and I always looked the same before today, so maybe they thought that we were both bullies, or they couldn't tell which one was Aries, so they glared at both of us just to be sure. Whatever their reasons, it was still painful being stared at with those eyes."

The girl smiled sympathetically at him. "I think I know what you mean. The public doesn't hate my family, it's quite the opposite actually, but it's still been lonely. I'm betting you didn't ask me what my name was earlier because you were afraid that, if you did, I would ask you yours in return, but my name is Aurora Potter. I'm Harry's youngest child. I'm sure you've heard of me." Pardus was shocked, but he managed to nod his confirmation.


	4. Friends

He should have known what she looked like. She'd been on the covers of newspapers and magazines since the day she was born. His family never bought newspapers though, because more often than not they also contained snide comments or rude articles about them as well. His family didn't talk much about the Potters either. It was still a bit of a sore point that Draco owed his freedom to the boy who'd been his enemy for his entire scholastic career.

Pardus was shocked, but he managed to nod his confirmation. "I thought so. Everybody worships my family, and they worship me just because I'm his daughter, but I don't like that. If anybody is going to worship me, I want it to be because of what I've achieved, not because my surname is 'Potter', or because of what my father has achieved. I can never tell if somebody is being honest when they compliment me, or if they're just being curious when they ask me questions.

Once, I had a brief conversation with a pleasant lady in a shop in Diagon Alley. I thought she was just a random stranger, but the next day everything I'd told her was on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Luckily I hadn't told her anything important, or any secrets or anything, but what if I had? I can't trust anyone. They're all just sucking up to me, or using me to get to my dad. Even if they're being genuine, it would be impossible for me to tell the difference, so I have to push everyone away just to be sure.

Even my family never had time for me. James and Albus didn't want to play with girls, and Lily was old enough that she had her own friends, and having her baby sister around was a nuisance. I reckon I've been about as lonely as you have, Pardus." He'd been staring out of the window at the countryside the entire time, but she could see in his eyes that he'd been listening to every word.

"Do you think there'll ever come a time when we don't have to be lonely anymore?" Aurora smiled at his question. "I don't know about you, but I've stopped feeling lonely already. We're friends now, aren't we?" Pardus whipped his head around to face her so quickly that he was mildly surprised that he hadn't pulled a neck muscle. "Are you serious? You really want to be my friend? You honestly think that a Malfoy and a Potter can be friends?"

Aurora didn't stop smiling. "I don't know if Pardus Malfoy and Aurora Potter could ever be friends, but you can look at me and see just me, rather than seeing my surname, and I can look at you and just see you, rather than seeing your relatives. What do you think? Can just Pardus be friends with just Aurora?" Pardus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Even if we could forget each other's surnames, would you still want to be my friend when I'm a Slytherin?"

Aurora looked a little taken aback. "I hadn't thought of that. I guess it just never crossed my mind that the Sorting Hat would put you in Slytherin, when you're so unlike one. If I thought about it, I'd have to say that if I were the Sorting Hat, I'd put you in Gryffindor. In my mind, that's where you'd fit the best. I mean, do you even want to be in Slytherin?" Pardus smiled sadly. "Even if I didn't, my entire family has always been in Slytherin. The Hat will take one look at me and shout out 'Slytherin'."

Aurora shook her head. "That's not true. First of all, one of your distant relatives, Sirius Black, was a Gryffindor. He was your grandmother Narcissa's first cousin. When he ran away from his family, my dad's grandparents took him in. Secondly, what you want matters a lot. My dad told me that the Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin, but he asked it to put him in Gryffindor, so it did. The Hat takes requests, you can be in any house you want.

My dad said that it was because our choices are what make us who we are, more than anything else. Who our relatives are, or what our abilities or talents or personalities are; those things are only a small part of it. The most important thing is our choices. But Pardus, whether the Hat calls you a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, or the new Assistant Grounds Keeper, I will still want to be your friend, so what do you say?" Pardus smiled gently. "Okay then. From now on we're friends." Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Anything off the trolley, Dears?" The trolley-lady was somewhat ancient, but she still claimed she would never retire. The two children quickly walked into the corridor. Pardus selected several Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills. Aurora chose a Pumpkin Pasty and a fistful of Liquorice Wands. When Aurora tried to pull out her purse and pay for her goods though, Pardus stopped her with a hand on hers, and a shy shaking of his head, which made them both blush.


	5. Brothers and Hurricanes

"Anything off the trolley, Dears?" The trolley-lady was somewhat ancient, but she still claimed she would never retire. The two children quickly walked into the corridor. Pardus selected several Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills. Aurora chose a Pumpkin Pasty and a fistful of Liquorice Wands. When Aurora tried to pull out her purse and pay for her goods though, Pardus stopped her with a hand on hers, and a shy shaking of his head, which made them both blush.

"I believe friends take turns paying. You can treat me next year." Aurora just nodded and put her purse away. It was several minutes after they'd finished consuming as much of their treats as they were going to for the time being, and packed the rest away in their luggage, that there was a knock at their door.

James didn't wait for Aurora to invite him in before opening the door. He hadn't looked through the window to see who was in this compartment, but he knew his little sister, so he was sure she'd be in this one, and if she wasn't he could always just claim he was just checking in as a part of his Prefect duties. Except, the fact that he'd forgone glancing through the window before opening the door also meant that he didn't know there was a Malfoy in the compartment with his baby sister.

He didn't know the youngest two, the twin boys, because he'd never met them, but he had had the displeasure of meeting their older brother, Scorpius, and knew enough about him to be sure that he didn't want any of that creature's siblings around his sister. Just because he didn't spend much time with her, or ask her to join in when he was hanging out with his friends, didn't mean that he wasn't very fond of her.

He just didn't have much in common with the bookish kid. She was still his little sister, and as such he still loved her, and felt that, as her big brother, it was his duty to protect her. That was why, when he opened the door and saw Pardus, he didn't hesitate for even just one second before pulling out his wand and hexing the boy.

James was so fast that even if Pardus had had his wand in his hand, and known what was coming, he still wouldn't have had time to cast a shielding spell. Pardus didn't even have time to recognise who'd come in. All he knew was that the newcomer had cast a spell on him, and he was in pain. Looking down, he saw that both of his arms and his legs had been turned into an octopus' tentacles. Damn. That was a new one. He didn't know how to reverse it. Even if he had known the countercharm, with his hands transfigured into tentacles he couldn't use his wand to cast it.

Aurora screamed. She'd seen through the door's window who'd been knocking, but she hadn't expected her brother to hex Pardus the instant he saw him, without so much as a greeting. Standing up at the speed of lightning, she put herself between the two boys. Without even looking behind her, she pointed her wand at Pardus, and silently cast the spell which would fix his legs, glaring at her brother the entire time.

"James Sirius Potter, what in the hell do you think you're doing to my best friend?" James could only gape at her in response. "I asked you a question, and I expect you to answer it." Recovering slightly, James replied. "What are you talking about, your 'best friend'? You've never even met him before. This kid is a Malfoy. I don't want any of those slimy ferrets anywhere near my little sister." Aurora was fuming. "How dare you think you know Pardus just because his surname is Malfoy? He's a nice person, and you have no right to tell me I can't be friends with him. Get out before I hex you."

Pardus, now fully recovered, put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Aurora. I'll leave. We were fooling ourselves to think that, even if we could ignore each other's surnames, everyone else would allow it. Thank you for everything you said to me earlier. I really appreciated it. I'll be looking forward to seeing you in the corridors." With that, he quietly squeezed past James, who refused to make room for him, and slipped out of the door.

Aurora turned on James, furious. "Look what you've done! When are you ever going to learn what Dad has always tried to teach us, that people aren't who they're related to? Why couldn't you just trust my judgement until you'd gotten to know Pardus for yourself? You can be such a bastard sometimes! Just get out, or I really will hex you!" Somewhere in the background a kitten's mewling could be heard, but Aurora was too angry to hear it, and James had forgotten its significance.

James gritted his teeth, but he wasn't leaving just yet. "Malfoys are tricky critters. He might be pretending to be all nice and friendly now, but just you wait and see. When he shows you his true colours, don't come crying to me. That's the last time I get worried about the safety of my little sister. From now on you'll just have to go to Lily or Albus if you need help."

With that, he was about to storm out of the compartment, when he saw the first signs of trouble. Aurora's hair was swiftly growing. She was standing on her toes, and it looked like she'd stopped breathing. The air around her began violently swirling, as though she were floating in the eye of a miniature hurricane. James swore under his breath. He'd unintentionally set her off.


	6. Blue Haired Danger

Once she was like this, there was very little which could be done to bring her back. If her toes left the ground, they were all in serious trouble. James tried to calculate the damages. How many would be injured? How much structural damage would be done to the train? Oh God, if she caused them to derail, how many children would be killed? Looking out of the window, he got his answer. They were currently crossing a long bridge which spanned a very deep river canyon. If they were derailed, nobody would survive.

When Aurora was just a toddler, and her body began producing its own magic for the first time, she began to have her 'attacks'. If she became very emotional, injured, or tired, or sometimes even for no reason at all other than it had been a long time since the last attack, the part of her which produced magic would kick into overdrive, producing massive amounts of magic, until it was too much for her body to contain, and it began pouring out of her. Her body couldn't handle it, and would do anything it could to rid itself of the harmful excess magic. The episode wouldn't end until the magic in her body had reached a normal level.

These incidences were a danger to anybody who was near her. The first stage was wind, like the small hurricane Aurora was currently at the centre of. It was heralded by her hair growing rapidly longer, and glowing dark blue. The longer it got, the more severe the attack was going to be. She would also seem to stop breathing, as though she were in a severe coma.

If she couldn't be stopped whilst still in this stage, then she would either cycle through every stage, or go straight to stage four, depending on her level of control. It was impossible to stop her once she'd advanced into stage two, because that was when it became too dangerous to be in the same room as her.

The second stage was random occurrences, when the uncontrolled raw magic she'd exuded would cause random things to occur, like turning a brick into a live rabbit, or freezing the water in a vase. Once she'd even summoned a demon. That was how their mother had gotten three huge, ugly claw marks on her face. The demon's magic was so strange and foreign, that the Healers at St. Mungo's hadn't been able to do much for her.

This stage began once Aurora's feet had left the floor entirely, and she was floating, supported by nothing but her own magic. The third stage was the most destructive. It would send blasts of destructive magic in all directions, melting, setting fire to, or exploding anything it came into contact with. Their father's left arm had been taken clean off by one of these blasts once. It had taken the Healers at St Mungo's months to fix it.

The final stage, the fourth stage, was when she exploded. The remaining magic came pouring out of her all at once, in gargantuan quantities, and would spread out in all directions at high speed. It could break glass, throw people against walls, send doors crashing off their hinges, and scald bare skin. This stage was the least predictable though. Aurora didn't always reach this stage, if the attack was a minor one she'd only cycle through the first three. Other times the attack skipped from Stage One to Stage Four.

Casting a spell to enclose her in an attempt to make her safe until the attack had passed was no use either. The raw, rogue magic coming off of her would either blast it away or absorb the magic being used to cast it before the spell was fully formed. The only thing which James could do in the current circumstances was to attempt to talk her down. Albus was much better at that than James, but he was also half the train away. Clearing his throat, and praying this would work, James began to talk.

"Aura, you're right. I was being a bastard. I over-reacted when I saw him in here with you. I was scared for you, baby sister, I thought he was here to hurt you. Maybe I should've given him a chance, but all I could think about was keeping you safe. I've been dealing with his evil brother Scorpius since my first year, and I was afraid that his little brothers were as bad as him. If you tell me Pardus is alright though, then I believe you.

I didn't mean those things I said before, I was just upset because I wasn't expecting you to stick up for him and get mad at me, and I didn't really understand what was going on. I'm really sorry, Aura. Please forgive me?" James held his breath, and waited to see whether he'd have to evacuate the car or not, not that it was likely to save any lives if the whole train was plunged off the bridge. He kept his eyes on her toes. If they lifted off the floor, it was all over for everyone on the train.

Slowly, Aurora's hair stopped growing, then began to shrink back into her head. When it was back to its normal length, it stopped glowing, and Aurora collapsed into James' arms. James sighed, and gently laid his blue-haired baby sister onto the seat. That had been way too close for comfort.


	7. Waking Up

Aurora stirred with a groan. She recognized the signs... the headache, the fuzzy memories, and the numb hands and feet... of all the places to have had an attack. She sat up, pulled the headache cure she carried everywhere with her from beneath her travelling cloak, and tried to recall what had set her off this time. About the only good thing her attacks resulted in was that the rampant magic super-charged any magical compounds nearby, including her headache potion. It took only the tiniest sip of the foul-tasting liquid to ease the pounding behind her red, dry eyes.

She began with the last thing she could clearly recall, a cloaked figure entering the compartment. Slowly fragments came back to her, and she painstakingly found the timeslot they belonged to, and begun to put the puzzle back together. She'd given the boy a haircut to fix his brother's butchery... she'd learnt who he was, and they'd had a long conversation about being lonely, and the importance of one's choices. They'd become friends.

Then her brother had come... he'd broken the moment, scared Pardus off... then... nothing. That must've been when the attack had begun. She had the vaguest memory of James apologizing. That, presumably, was why there were no ember-bordered holes in the walls. Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose and tried not to cry. Would James be afraid of her now too? Nobody said it, but they didn't need to.

Everyone in her family who knew of her condition feared her, that she could go off at any moment and kill them. That was why, rather than sitting in one of the compartments her numerous cousins just about filled, she'd found her empty, isolated compartment at the back. They all avoided her, looked at her with caution in their eyes, and talked about her behind her back. That was what had made her the loneliest, growing up, but she hadn't told Pardus that, out of fear that if he knew, he'd be scared of her too.

Although she wanted to be honest with him, because she knew that honesty was important for friendships, she didn't think there'd be much of a friendship to be worried about if Pardus discovered her secret, and began to think of her as a bomb which could go off at any time and maim him. Aurora frowned as she considered her next move. She glanced at her Muggle watch. There wasn't much time.

She reached her left arm up behind her, so that her forearm, which was covered in a thick, black, woollen arm-warmer, was level with the luggage rack above her. She pulled the whistle from inside her jumper with her right hand, the silver instrument hung low around her neck on a simple string. She blew on it softly and slowly. It made no sound audible to the human ear, but the one it was intended for heard it perfectly.

A tiny kitten, black with stripes the colour of Aurora's hair, clambered from the small, fluffy-blanket-lined wicker basket which it had been napping in, and dug it's minute claws deep into the arm-warmer. Feeling the kitten's weight on her arm, Aurora smiled, and brought her hand to her lap, where the diminutive animal disembarked. Aurora pulled a harness from her pocket, and secured it on the animal, which didn't fidget or complain in the slightest.

Using her wand to summon parchment, quill, and ink from her hand-luggage, a large floppy bad made from a patchwork of different-coloured suede, and with a wooden handle; she quickly wrote the letter. Finishing it off in a hurry, she rolled it up and tucked it into a small black cylinder, which she then clipped onto the kitten's harness. Whispering a few words into the animal's ear, Aurora told it who the letter was for, as well as a few other instructions.

When that was done, she watched as the feline jumped gracefully from her lap, and out of the door, which she both opened for it, and closed behind it, using her wand. Shortly afterwards, the train ground to a halt. They had arrived at Hogsmeade station. Aurora prayed as she took her bag down that Whisper's message reached Pardus in time.

She'd arrived at the station in London already dressed in her school robes, so she hadn't needed to change on the train. She was eager to begin the 'Hogwarts stage' of her life. She'd heard so many stories of the castle, and of the horrendous antics her relatives had gotten up to in it, particularly her uncles, Fred and George, who were currently the richest wizards in the world thanks to their popular joke shop, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

She stepped off the train, onto the platform. It wasn't long before she heard the renowned call of the Grounds Keeper, Hagrid, calling all Firs' Years to his side, and she spotted his lantern. She'd heard many times how large he was, but he still wasn't anything like what she'd pictured. He truly was as big as a lean-to, with feet which could've worn small boats for shoes, and hands large enough to use for tea-tables. His curly black beard could've hidden a colony of wild midgets in it. Any ancient, legendary pirate captain would've been bright green with envy at the sight of it.


	8. Whisper's Letter

Pardus followed the crowd of First Years being guided by Hagrid's huge lantern. He tried to spot Aurora's distinctive blue hair, but it was impossible. There was almost double the number of First Years that there's been when Harry Potter had begun attending Hogwarts. The group was lead to the edge of the famous lake, where almost two dozen little boats waited. "Alrigh', listen careful now. It's four to a boat, no more unless you wanna be eaten by the mons'er of the lake.

No pushin' each other once your on the water, or rockin' the boats. All aboard now, quickly." The First Years hurried to comply. Pardus didn't recognise any of his three shipmates. One was a nondescript boy he suspected would be made a Hufflepuff, another was a sharp-looking girl he thought could become a Slytherin. The third was a boy who seemed to be staring into space.

Pardus didn't quite know what to make of him, but something about the boy made him think of Gryffindor. The armada of tiny wooden rowing-boats floated gently across the water. Pardus could only assume that the boats were being powered and directed by magic, as they had no sails, nor even masts, and none had any oars stowed beneath the seats as one would expect on a rowing-boat.

The castle had just come into sight when Pardus almost jumped out of his skin. The girl hissed at him, strengthening his impressions of a Slytherin. "That giant said no rocking the boats! Or did you want us all to drown?" Pardus quietly apologized, before turning to face the source of his surprise. A tiny kitten, with such dark fur that it was almost invisible against the night sky, had landed on his right shoulder. It had also dug its claws in somewhat painfully, so as not to be dislodged.

Pardus couldn't for the life of him fathom where it may have come from. It wasn't wet, so it couldn't have swum, and there were no boats nearby which it might have leapt from. That could only mean it had been in the boat all along, and he just hadn't noticed it before. That was the most sensible theory. Once he'd recovered from his shock, he decided that the little creature was actually rather cute. He gently gripped it with his left hand, and it instantly retracted its claws, prompting Pardus to sigh slightly in relief.

He brought the kitten in front of his face, for closer inspection, and paled. The answer of where it may have come from, or how it had gotten to his shoulder, was answered. The kitten had blue, feathery _wings_. They were neatly folded over the back of Pardus' hand. The little animal must've spread them wide when he reached to pick it up, so they wouldn't be pinned against its body, where they may have been damaged, and then relaxed them once Pardus had a proper grip.

Taking the utmost care, Pardus ran his fingers along the fleshy edge of one wing, gripped it at the edge, and extended the feathers. The kitten huffed, but didn't seem too upset about the treatment. It had a wingspan of a good two feet, slightly longer than that of his brother Scorpius' owl. Once he'd gotten over this second shock, Pardus finally noticed the discrete black cylinder half-hidden in the creature's fur. He explored it with his fingers before unclipping it, opening it, and taking out the parchment it contained.

His eyes grew wide as he read it. "Pardus, listen carefully. I still want, and shall always want, to be your friend, no matter what anybody says, and no matter what happens. I don't care which house you're sorted into, but you have to think about it carefully. The only way that anybody at Hogwarts aside from me will be able to forget whose son you are for even a minute, is if you don't get sorted into Slytherin.

I can't imagine your family being pleased about it any more than I'm sure you can, but that just means that they're not much of a family. In life, everyone has two families. The first is the one they're born into. The second is the family they choose for themselves, the friends they decide to bring into their lives and hold closely. They're far more important, because not everyone belongs in their first family, and it's their chosen families that end up being there for them when they're in their greatest times of need.

I want you to know that you'll always be able to count on me, for anything at all. Remember Sirius, the brother and first cousin of Death Eaters, a Gryffindor, and my grandfather's closest friend. Remember what I told you about the importance of choices. When you put the Sorting Hat on tonight, try to remember that the only one who can choose your destiny is you, not your relatives, the public, or anybody else."


	9. The Great Hall

The boats pulled up to a little cove beneath the castle. Aurora was the first child to step onto the gravelly beach. Whisper sat perched unobtrusively on her shoulder. Aurora had removed the black cylinder from her mouth, and taken off her harness, as soon as she had landed on her arm-warmer. Aurora had tactfully kept her arm casually resting on the side of the boat. The other children in her boat, none of which she knew, had been too busy staring at the castle, oohing and aahing, to notice the winged kitten.

Hagrid led them all to a small door in the rocky wall of the cavern, and told them to go inside. Only Aurora stopped to chat with him. She asked him if he was coming too. His answer made her grin. He was too big to fit through the little door, so he was getting back on a boat and going around to the main entrance. She quickly followed the others inside, as there were only a handful of children left outside.

Waiting for them in the room inside was Professor Longbottom. Aurora smiled and waved at him. She'd spoken with him many times in the last couple of years, he often came over to have dinner with her family. Many red-headed children waved at him too. He nodded kindly at each of them. He led them through a series of chambers, small and large, until they were standing on a wide staircase, facing another small door. When Neville heard his cue, the end of Headmistress McGonagall's short speech, he opened the door and led the children out. He was so tall that he had to duck slightly.

Once on the platform in front of the teachers' table, he paused, pulled out his wand, and conjured a stool. Filch had died a few years ago, from a long-term illness, but his successor could've been his clone. The pure-blood squib was just as bedraggled and grumpy as Filch had ever been. He shuffled over to the stool, opened the glass case he'd been carrying, and took the Sorting Hat out of it, before placing it on the stool. He closed the case then, and shuffled back to the side of the Great Hall.

Once they'd finished scanning the hall, and marvelling at the spelled roof, which imitated the sky above it, and the floating candles, the First Years all peered curiously at the Hat, wondering what would happen next, what the crowd seemed to be waiting for, for every other student in the hall had fallen silent, and was staring at the Hat expectantly. At first it looked no different from any other hat. Then, what they'd taken at first for an ordinary tear near the brim opened wide, and much to the surprise of many of the First Years, it burst into song.

"Ten centuries and a while ago,

Hogwarts was founded by the well-known four.

Helga Hufflepuff loved hard-workers so,

Whilst the smartest went to Rowena Ravenclaw.

Salazar Slytherin chose ambitious pure-bloods,

And the bravest were selected by Godric Gryffindor.

For many years it went on thus,

Until they all began to wonder.

Who would chose the students' houses,

When they were all just memories?

That's when Helga whipped me off her head,

And they put some brains in me.

Now, First Years, just put me on.

The rest of you, wait and see."

The hall erupted in clapping as the Hat finished its song, and fell silent once more. The First Years were called up alphabetically, by their surnames. One by one they came forward, put the Hat on, sat on the stool, and waited for it to shout out their house, starting with "Attwater, MacMillan", a "HUFFLEPUFF!" Before long, Professor Longbottom called out "Malfoy, Aries." Aries picked up the Hat, but it had only touched a single stray strand of his hair before it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" Smirking, Aries sauntered over to his cheering house table to sit next to Scorpius.

Legend said that Scorpius had barely even touched the Hat with the tip of a single finger when it had proclaimed him a Slytherin. Even as a First Year, his entire house had been wary of him, and the Gryffindors had been even more cautious of him. Next it was Pardus' turn. He was rather nervous. He picked up the Hat, quietly thanked the heavens that the Hat wasn't reacting the same way to him as it had to Scorpius, sat on the stool, then placed it on his head.


	10. Are You Sure?

He immediately heard the Hat's voice in his mind. "Hmmm... Whatever am I to do with you... If ever I was given a challenge... You're smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, hard-working enough to be in Hufflepuff, and your family says you should be in Slytherin, but..." Pardus' heart quickened in his chest as he thought 'But what?' The Hat answered him. "But no matter how I look at it, you're a Gryffindor through and through. Would it be okay with you, if I made you a Gryffindor?"

Pardus smiled shyly. The Hat was saying exactly what Aurora had. At heart, he really was a Gryffindor. If he asked it to, the Hat would put him in Slytherin. His family would be satisfied, but what then? Aurora might still be willing to be friends with him, but it would be very difficult. His brothers would still terrorize him, and the general public and student body's assumptions about him would be confirmed. But if he let the Hat put him in Gryffindor...

His family would hate him, but then again they'd never been a very good family to begin with. Instead, he'd have a new family, one of his own choosing. He'd have Aurora, and through her he'd have all of the many Weasleys and the other Potters on his side. He wouldn't be alone anymore. He pictured Aurora's happy grin, and her shy, blushing smile. He thought about her sad eyes, and her beautiful, blue hair. There was something about her. He didn't know what it was, but he knew she was special.

Pardus remembered what was written on the note he still clutched in his hand. He thought about his great-uncle Sirius, and about the life he might have lived if Voldemort had never been born. He thought about how happy the man had been at Hogwarts, with his friends, and his adoptive family, the Potters.

He wistfully wondered if he could ever have that, and felt tears well up behind his eyes. His chest was painful. For as long as he could remember, he'd been lonely or scared, and now he finally had the chance at a new beginning, but he wanted to cry because he'd never be able to go back and experience the joy of a small child in a loving family.

He knew then and there, that when he was a father someday, he wanted to give his children the happy early years every child deserved. He wondered if he could do that if he became a Slytherin that night. He found himself asking just how much he was willing to sacrifice to please a family that had never cared about him. He also found his answer.

'Make me a Gryffindor.' "Are you sure? I can't imagine your brothers would be too happy about that." 'They've never acted like my brothers anyway. You'll be sorting Aurora Potter soon, and I'm certain she's going to be a Gryffindor. I want to be in the same house as her.' "You're taking quite the risk you know. What if you get in a fight with her a month from now, and regret your decision?" 'Even if that happens, I'll never regret it. And of course I'm taking a risk, aren't you the one who said that I'm a Gryffindor at heart? This is what I want.'

The Hat sighed in his thoughts. "Very well, if you're really sure, then I'll make you a GRYFFINDOR!" The children in the Hall heard only the last word, but it was enough to make several of them gasp, while many others just stared in shock. After a few seconds of deathly silence, the entire room burst into whispers and speculations which echoed from the walls and grew louder.

Little Pardus took the Hat off and placed it back on the stool before taking a couple of tentative steps towards the Gryffindor table, his nervousness written all over his face. The Hall grew silent again, waiting to see how the Gryffindors would react. At first they just looked at each other with uncertainty. Then, James Potter stood up, and began clapping. First Lily and Albus joined him, then all of their Weasley cousins and Teddy Lupin, then all the rest of the Gryffindors.

Pardus received the warmest welcome any of the first-years had been given so far. A few minutes later, when Aurora had been sorted into Gryffindor just as Pardus had predicted, she ran to him and hugged him from behind. Pardus blushed furiously, as she whispered into his ear. "I'm really proud of you Pardus. Welcome to the family."


	11. Kicking The Sleeping Badger

Aurora couldn't believe the mess she'd gotten herself into. She and Pardus had known perfectly well that Aries and Scorpius would take very poorly indeed to Pardus being sorted into Gryffindor, but she never could've predicted that things would go so far… It wasn't even a full week later when Aries and the little gang of thugs he'd recruited on the train cornered her after supper, on her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She was on her own. As usual, Pardus had opted to stick around for desert. Aurora didn't eat much, she only had pudding on special occasions. She wasn't fond of sweet stuff anyway.

To make matters worse, Aurora tended to take the quiet back-routes, because she liked the paintings better, and it let her walk without paying attention to her surroundings, because there was nobody she might bump into. She often sunk into a thoughtful daze whilst walking. She had a big imagination, and sometimes she felt as though if she tried to stop herself from daydreaming, her brain would overheat. So, she was alone, cornered, and in a deserted corridor where nobody might come along and help her. Things were definitely about to get hairy.

Aries strutted forward in imitation of the albino peacocks Malfoy Manor was known for. "Good grief. To think my foolish brother would turn Gryffindor and stain the name of Malfoy for a mere girl, and a Potter at that. He really doesn't have any pride. I've decided he must be punished. Unfortunately he's grown used to being punished by me, but I've got a new weapon to use against him now. Instead of hurting him, I'm going to hex you. That should teach him. Even if you are a Potter, you're still just a weak little girl. You can't protect yourself, or Pardus. I'm going to wipe away every trace of my brother's disillusionment."

Aurora closed her eyes and tried to practice her meditative breathing. If Aries was going to pick a fight, she'd have to keep her cool, or the whole school would find out about her little problem. If that happened, she didn't think she'd be able to face any of them again. She'd spent enough years of her life seeing fear in the eyes of everyone around her. She couldn't do it anymore. The only thing keeping her going was the gentle trust in Pardus' smile.

Unfortunately, Aries was no gentleman. He saw his opponent closing her eyes as an opportunity. Aurora felt his magic surge, but too late to dodge it. Instead, her own magic exploded to life. A shield of blinding white light sprung forth in front of her, while a ball of something closely resembling molten lava batted the hex aside. It landed on the hem of one thug's robes, and promptly set him alight. He dropped to the ground, screaming and flailing, while the brutes next to him frantically tried to put him out.

Aries gaped in horror at the sight before him. Aurora's hair was billowing all around her, but it was already sweeping the floor, three feet below her limp, suspended form. That first flaming lava ball was promptly followed by a barrage of missiles. All of the boys tried to flee, except Aries. They didn't get far, the ground reached up and swallowed their legs. Their wands, when waved frantically at the floor, were promptly swatted away or eaten by root-like stalagmites.

Many of them were stabbed or knocked unconscious by the earthen arms. The injured ones quickly lost consciousness too. Aries was rooted to the spot by his terror. One projectile singed a large chunk of his hair on its way past, and left blisters on his ear. Half an inch closer, and he wouldn't have had an ear anymore. It would've melted clean off. Suddenly Aurora's magic switched elements. Instead of balls of earth and fire emerging from her hands, her hair turned into whips of water and blades of wind.

When one gust of wind blew Aries off his feet, leaving him to fall on his ass, and cut a deep wound in his leg, he came to his senses and started crawling away. He wasn't going to make it. He'd pushed her, and he was going to pay the price. There was nothing Aurora could do to stop it now. A water whip grabbed Aries by his throat, turned and lifted him until his eyes were level with Aurora's, and froze solid. He was going to choke to death, and Aurora's subconscious was just going to watch him do it.


End file.
